On viewing the course which the proceedings of the War Department have
not unfrequently taken, I find that I owe it to my own responsibility as well
as to other considerations, to make some remarks on the relations in which the
Head of the Department stands to the President, and to lay down some rules for
conducting the business of the Department, which are dictated by the nature of
those relations.

In general the Secretary of War, like the Heads of the other Depts as
well by express statute as by the structure of the constitution, acts under the
authority & subject to the decisions & instructions of the President,
with the exception of cases where the law may vest special & independent
powers in the head of the Department

From the great number & variety of subjects, however, em braced by
that Department and the subordinate & routine character of a great portion
of them, it cannot be either necessary or convenient that proceedings relative
to every subject should receive a previous & positive sanction of the
Executive In cases of that minor sort it is requisite only that they be
subsequently communicated as far and as soon as a knowledge of them can be
useful or satisfactory

In cases of a higher character & importance, involving nee essarily,
and in the public understanding, a just responsibility of the President, the
acts of the Department ought to be either prescribed by him, or preceded by his
sanction

It is not easy to define in theory the cases falling within these
different classes, or in practice to discriminate them with uniform exactness
But substantial observance of the distmc tion is not difficult, and will be
facilitated by the confidence between the Executive & the Head of the
Department

This distinction has not been sufficiently kept in view

I need not repeat the notice heretofore taken of the mea sure
consolidating certain regiments, a measure highly impor tant under more than
one aspect, and which was adopted & executed without the knowledge or
sanction of the President, nor was it subsequently made known to him otherwise
than through the publication of the act in the newspapers

The like may be said of certain rules & regulations, partic ularly a
Body of them for the Hospital & Medical Depts of which the law expressly
required the approbation of the President, and which comprise a rule to be
observed by the P himself in future appointments The first knowledge of these
latter regulations was derived from the newspapers

A very remarkable instance is a late general order prohibiting Duels and
challenges, on pain of dismission from the army However proper such an order
may be in itself, it would never be supposed to have been issued without the
deliberate sanction of the President, the more particularly as it pledged an
exercise of one of the most responsible of the Executive functions, that of
summarily dismissing from military offices without the intervention of the
Military Tribunal provided by law This order was adopted & promulgated
without the pre vious knowledge of the P nor was it ever made known to him
otherwise than by its promulgation Instructions to military Comanders relating
to important plans & operations have been issued without any previous or
even any subsequent communication thereof to the Executive, and letters
expressly intended & proper for the knowledge & decision of the Ex have
been recd & acted on without being previously com mumcated or the measures
taken being made known to him Other illustrations might be drawn from instances
of other sorts, leading to the result of these remarks The above may suffice,
with the addition of one which with the circumstances attending it will be
explained by a reference to the letter of resignation from Genl Harrison, to
the letter of the P to the Secretary of War of May 24, to the issuing of the
commission of Major General to General Jackson, and the letter of the Secretary
of War accompanying it

The following course will be observed in future To be previously
communicated to the President

1 Orders from the Dept of War establishing general or permanent
regulations

2 Orders for Courts of Enquiry or Courts Martial, on general officers,
or designating the numbers or members of the Courts

3 Commissions or notifications of appointment to officers other than
regular promotions, in uncontested cases

4 Dismissions of officers from the service

5 Consolidations of Corps or parts of Corps & translations of Ed
officers from one Regiment to another

6 Acceptances & refusals of resignations from officers above the
rank of Captains

7 Requisitions & receptions of militia into the service & pay of
the U S

8 Instructions relating to Treaties with Indians

9. Instructions to officers commanding military Districts, or Corps or
Stations, relative to military movements or operations.

10. Changes in the boundaries of military Districts, or the establishmt.
of separate commands therein; or the transfer of General officers from one
District or command to another District or command.

In the absence of the P. from the seat of Govt. previous communications
to him may be waived in urgent cases, but to be subsequently made without
delay.

All letters giving military intelligence or containing other matters
intended or proper for the knowledge of the P. will of course be immediately
communicated to him.

These rules may omit cases falling within, and embrace cases not
entirely within, the reason of them. Experience therefore may improve the
rules. In the meantime, they will give a more suitable order & course to
the business of the Dept. will conduce to a more certain harmony &
cooperation in the proceedings of the several Departments, and will furnish the
proper opportunity for the advantage of cabinet consultations on cases of a
nature to render them expedient.